Whether you are a foreigner or a Korean, staying a night at a temple will be a special experience for anyone who is bound by busy city life. You can not just get some fresh air of the secluded mountain, but also have some peaceful moments over meditations and temple eating service called kongyang (공양).
There are as many temples as churches in Korea, but I recommend you to visit to a larger one that provides translation.
Temple stay might be a little tiring for some of you because you have to get up at three in the morning and vow deeply a hundred times. But you will definitely feel that you will become healthier and more relaxed.
My recommendations are on the list below.
1. Haeinsa Temple, Hapcheon (해인사, 경남 합천)
- Distance: 1.5 hour from Jinju
- Fee: ₩60,000 (3 meals included)
- Rooms: Family type(3-4ppl), Group type(up to 25ppl) with floor heating system
2. Ssanggyesa Temple, Hadong (쌍계사, 경남 하동)
3. Songgwangsa Temple, Suncheon (송광사, 전남 순천)
The pictures below were taken when I visited to Haeinsa with my buddies last month.
<Temple adventurers from Korea, US, and Japan>
<after making yeomju, or Buddhist prayer beads>
<a pagoda in front of the main hall, or Daeungjeon>
<Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks>
<Mt. Gaya, in which Haeinsa Temple is nested>
